Excerpt: ...compel the custodian of records of 1211 E. Washington Owner LLC (“1211”) to produce documents requested in the deposition subpoena issued on December 7, 2021. (Echegaray Decl. ¶ 2 & Ex. A.) Pursuant to CCP § 2025.480(b), a motion seeking to compel a deponent to produce documents specified in a deposition subpoena must be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration. (CCP § 2025.480(b).) The declaration in support of the moving papers does ...

Excerpt: ...e Demurrer and Motion to Strike, i.e., less than one day before the scheduled hearing in this matter. (See CCP 1005(b) [reply papers shall be filed with the court at least five court days before the hearing.) Accordingly, the Court in its discretion does not consider these late-filed reply briefs. (See Cal. Rule of Ct., rules 3.1300(d).) I. DEMURRER TO COMPLAINT With respect to defendant Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center demurrer to the ...

Excerpt: ...urt from addressing the demurrer on the merits. (Johnson v. Sun Realty Co. (1934) 138 Cal.App. 296, 299 [noncompliance with court rules “to which no penalty was attached, did not prevent the court from hearing and disposing of the demurrer”].) Further, a determination that the meet and confer was insufficient is not a basis t overrule or sustain a demurer. (CCP § 430.41(a)(4).) A. First Cause of Action: Breach of Contract – Lease Agreement...

Excerpt: ... Motor Cars, LLC's Motion to Compel Further Responses to Special Interrogatories, Set Two is DENIED. I. DEFENDANT HOLLYWOOD MOTOR CARS, LLC'S MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSE TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES, SET TWO Defendant Hollywood Motor Cars, LLC moves to compel a further response from plaintiff Universal Underwriters Insurance Company to Special Interrogatories, Set Two, No. 28. The Court finds that this motion (as well as plaintiff's motion di...

Excerpt: ...s set forth in Health and Safety Code § 25249.7(b)(2). In a supplemental declaration, counsel for plaintiff indicates that 2,700 units of the offending product were sold during the statutory period. (Supp. Dubey Decl. ¶ 6.) Based on the sales of the product, combined with counsel for plaintiff's averment that a single use of the cosmetic bags violates the same harbor levels for DEHP (Dubey Decl. ¶ 4), the Court finds that a $8,000 penalty appe...

Excerpt: ...es of The Hughes Shulman Family Trust are GRANTED as to Exhibits 1 through 3. Plaintiff Living the Dream does not dispute that the unredacted documents attached to defendants' request for judicial notice are the subject of the first and second causes of action. A “pleader should not be allowed to bypass a demurrer by suppressing facts which the court will judicially notice.” (Legg v. Mutual Ben. Health and Acc. Ass'n (1960) 184 Cal.App.2d 482...

Excerpt: ....App.4th 27, 42-43.) As a self-represented litigant, plaintiff is held to the same standards as an attorney before this Court. (Kobayashi v. Superior Court (2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 536, 543.) Nevertheless, the Court evaluates the demurrer on its merits. I. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION: FRAUD “The well-known elements of a cause of action for fraud are: (1) a misrepresentation, which includes a concealment or nondisclosure; (2) knowledge of the falsity of...

Excerpt: ...; Special Interrogatories, Set One; and Requests for Production of Documents, Set One is GRANTED IN PART. As a preliminary matter, plaintiff did not file a separate motion and pay a separate filing fee for each of the three discovery sets. The filing fee required by Government Code § 70617(a)(4) concerning discovery motions applies “separately to each motion or other paper filed,” “[r]egardless of whether each motion or matter is heard at ...

Excerpt: ...order compelling responses to discovery. On February 8, 2022, the Court granted defendants' motion to compel responses to interrogatories and motion to compel responses to requests for production. (Diamond Decl. ¶ 11.) Plaintiff did not file any opposition to the motions or even appear at the hearing. (Diamond Decl. ¶ 10.) The Court ordered plaintiff to serve written verified responses, without objection, to Form Interrogatories-General, Set On...

Excerpt: .... and American Medical Response of Southern California's Consolidated Motion to Deem Requests for Admission as Admitted is DENIED. I. PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES Plaintiff moves to compel further responses from defendant American Medical Response Ambulance Service, Inc. (“AMRAS”) to Special Interrogatories, Set One, Nos. 2, 3, 8, 15, and 16. As background, on April 19, 2022, the Court granted plai...

Excerpt: ...is GRANTED. Plaintiff Rosemary Ramos' UNOPPOSED Motion to Compel Defendant Josie Williams to Provide Further Responses to Form Interrogatories-General, Set One is GRANTED. Plaintiff Rosemary Ramos' UNOPPOSED Motion to Compel Defendant Josie Williams to Provide Further Responses to Form Interrogatories-Employment, Set One is GRANTED. I. MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES FROM DEFENDANT HUMAN SERVICES ASSOCIATION TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUME...

Excerpt: ...rties agree that plaintiff Jonathan Roger Ma was a prevailing party in the action and is allowed under Civil Code § 1794 (d) to recover as part of the judgment a sum to cover attorney fees based on actual time expended and costs, and determined by the Court to have been reasonably incurred by the buyer in connection with the commencement and prosecution of this action. The Court finds that the hourly rates of charged by counsel for plaintiff in ...

Excerpt: ...sion N95 Holdings, LLC's Motion to Compel Further Responses to Form Interrogatories-General, Set One is DENIED. Defendants John Rigas and Mission N95 Holdings, LLC's Motion to Compel Further Responses to Requests for Admission, Set One is DENIED. I. PLAINTIFFS UW INTERNATIONAL CORP., CROWN ESTATE HOLDING, LLC, AND JAY HOOPER'S MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM WAIVER OF OBJECTIONS Plaintiffs UW International Corp., Crown Estate Holding, LLC, and Jay Hooper ...

Excerpt: ... Group, LLC (“MAPG”) moves to compel the attendance and testimony of defendants Terrance Howard, Mira Howard, and Universal Bridges, Inc. (“UBI”) at deposition. CCP §§ 2019.010(a) and 2019.030(a) requires the Court to restrict the frequency or extent of oral depositions if it determines that the oral depositions sought are “unreasonably cumulative or duplicative.” The Court finds that the requested oral depositions are unreasonably ...

Excerpt: ...Sharon Mersiovsky, and for Responses and Documents for Request for Production, Set Two is GRANTED IN PART, but subject to payment of additional filing fees, as set forth below. Defendants The Brink's Company; Brink's, Incorporated; and Julian Moreira's request to take judicial notice of the declaration of Sharon Mersiovsky in support of the Motion to Compel Arbitration is GRANTED, but only for the existence of the document, not the truth of the m...

Excerpt: ...arty or its own motion finds that in the interest of substantial justice an action should be heard in a forum outside this state, the court shall stay or dismiss the action in whole or in part on any conditions that may be just.”]; CCP § 418.10(a)(2) [“A defendant, on or before the last day of his or her time to plead or within any further time that the court may for good cause allow, may serve and file a notice of motion for one or more of ...

Excerpt: ...Requests for Production, Set One. Plaintiff asserted the attorney-client privilege and attorney work product doctrine for each of defendant's 121 requests for production. (Walker Motion Decl. ¶¶ 2, 3 & Ex. A.) For certain requests, plaintiff also stated that he would produce “non-privileged responsive documents.” Plaintiff argues that defendant was repeatedly informed that no documents were withheld based on privilege. (Mtn. at 2:25-26.) Ev...

Excerpt: ...entered against them. Defaults were entered against both cross-defendants on December 10, 2021. With respect to cross-defendant Pugh, the proof of service of summons filed on October 25, 2021 indicates that on October 17, 2021 at 2422 West 78 th Street in Inglewood, Pugh was served the summons and Cross-Complaint by substitute service on Everlyn Pugh, cross-defendant Pugh's mother. Pugh maintains that he does not live with his mother. (Pugh Decl....

Excerpt: ...02 Update of the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement is GRANTED. (Church v. Jamison (2006) 143 Cal.App.4th 1568, 1579, fn. 19.) As a preliminary manner, defendant contends that this Court conducts informal discovery conferences (“IDCs”). (Opp. at 7:26-28 [“Plaintiff's counsel agreed to an informal discovery conference . . . to discuss these requests with the Court. Plaintiff's counsel reneged on that agreement, contending tha...

Excerpt: .... RG19001677 is DENIED as irrelevant. (Mangini v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 1057, 1063 [“Although a court may judicially notice a variety of matters (Evid. Code, § 450 et seq.), only relevant material may be noticed”].) Plaintiff Solomon Aflalo seeks further responses to Special Interrogatories, Set One, Nos. 69-74. After the motion was filed, the parties continued to meet and confer. (Ferguson Decl. ¶ 2 & Ex. A.) In the re...

Excerpt: ...¶ 2, 5 & Ex. 1.) Plaintiff moves to compel BNSK's compliance with the subpoena, which directed BNSK to produce or do the following: All drafts of settlement agreement with Ascot, and the final signed copy of the settlement agreement with Ascot. All e-mails, letters, notices, or any other communication between Ethan Brown and any representative or lawyer for Ascot. Produce all communications (including e-mails, text messages, or messages from any...

Excerpt: ...ry matter, a motion to compel answers at deposition requires a separate statement. (Rule of Court 3.1345(a)(4).) Although CHP did not set forth the factual and legal reason for compelling further answers in the separate statement, as required by Rule of Court 3.1345(c)(4), the Court has the discretion to deny a discovery motion based on violations of Rules of Court. (Mills v. U.S. Bank (2008) 166 Cal.App.4th 871, 892.) The Court declines to exerc...

Excerpt: ...for judicial notice are DENIED because defendants did not include a copy of the documents to be judicially noticed, as required by Cal. Rule of Court 3.1306(c)(1). Plaintiff Michele Viault's request for judicial notice is DENIED as irrelevant. (Mangini v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 1057, 1063.) II. DEMURRER TO FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT A. First Cause of Action: Professional Negligence Defendants contend that the first cause of actio...

Excerpt: ...ynn, and Paul Wallin's requests to take judicial notice of the December 4, 2020 minute order in Jacquelynn L. Hansen v. Oleg Aleksandrovich Volkov, LSAC Case No. 20STRO05408 (Exhibit A) and December 4, 2020 civil harassment restraining order (Exhibit B) are GRANTED pursuant to Evidence Code § 452(d). Defendants' request to take judicial notice of the court docket in Hansen v. Volkov Second District Court of Appeal, Case No. 311524 is DENIED beca...

Excerpt: ...e Angeles Cal. Corp. (collectively, “Healthy Start Defendants”) move for a determination that the settlement they reached with plaintiffs Salvador Barrios and Elena Barrios, as well as third-party Oscar Aldrete, who was also involved in the subject accident, was reached in good faith. Under the proposed settlement, the Healthy Start Defendants are to pay $1,000,000.00 total, $940,000.00 to plaintiffs and $60,000.00 to Aldrete. (Attia Decl. ¶...

Excerpt: ...ail and email on April 15, 2022, nine court days before the hearing. Pursuant to CCP § 1005(c), oppositions are to be served in a manner “reasonably calculated to ensure delivery to the other party or parties not later than the close of the next business day” after the opposition was filed, including by personal delivery, facsimile transmission, express mail, or electronic service. (CCP § 1005(c); Rule of Court 2.251(a).) Regular mail, as o...

Excerpt: ...ria persona and does not appear to be a licensed attorney. “No person shall practice law in California unless the person is an active licensee of the State Bar.” (Bus. & Prof. Code § 6125.) “Practice law” means “the doing and performing services in a court of justice in any matter depending therein . . . .” (Birbrower, Montalbano, Condon & Frank v. Superior Court (1998) 17 Cal.4th 119, 128, quoting People ex rel. Lawyers' Institute o...

Excerpt: ...at the application complies with all requirements of Cal. Rule of Court 9.40 and that the applicant provided sufficient proof of service on the State Bar and payment of the requisite fee. The UNOPPOSED application of Sonni Nolan, Esq. of Husch Blackwell LLP to appear as counsel pro hac vice in this action on behalf of defendants DXC Technology, Inc. and Mary Finch is GRANTED. The Court finds that the application complies with all requirements of ...

Excerpt: ...nd Shellydale Princess Gray did not state sufficient facts to constitute any defense and that cross-defendants did not specify as to which causes of action the affirmative defenses were intended to apply. A distinction must be made between affirmative defenses and denials, because a different pleading standard applies to each. CCP §431.30(b) states: “(b) The answer to a complaint shall contain: [¶] (1) The general or specific denial of the ma...

Excerpt: ...ssued to Masha Derflinger and Nerses Torosian are GRANTED. I. MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE In Special Interrogatories, Set One, Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, and 14, plaintiff St. John Armenian Apostolic Church Hollywood, California (“Church”) seeks to ascertain whether defendant Petros Taglyan claimed charitable contribution tax deductions on his federal and state tax returns for amounts he deposited i...

Excerpt: ... the 2002 Update of the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement is GRANTED. (Church v. Jamison (2006) 143 Cal.App.4th 1568, 1579, fn. 19.) As a preliminary matter, defendant argues that the motion was untimely served by email. Based on the hearing date of April 19, 2022, plaintiff was required to serve this motion by email on March 23, 2022. (CCP § 1005(b) [deadline to file motion is 16 court days before hearing]; 1010.6(a)(4)(B) [two...

Excerpt: ...s to Form Interrogatories- General, Set Two is DENIED. I. MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO REQUESTS FOR ADMISSION, SET ONE Plaintiff Dr. Lauren Pinter-Brown moves to compel further responses from defendant The Regents of the University of California to Requests for Admission, Set One, Nos. 8-27, 33, 44-47, and 80. As background, on August 5, 2021, the Court previously heard a motion concerning these requests. The Court ordered further respon...

Excerpt: ...tence of the documents, not the truth of the matters asserted therein. (See Evid. Code §452 (d); Sosinsky v. Grant (1992) 6 Cal.App.4th 1548, 1564-69.) Defendant Apollo's requests to take judicial notice of Apollo and Dispatch Management Group's (“Dispatch Management”)) Statements of Information filed with the California Secretary of State are GRANTED. (Evid. Code § 452(c); Pedus Building Services, Inc. v. Allen (2002) 96 Cal.App.4th 152, 1...

Excerpt: ...se of Action: Breach of Contract Defendants contend that plaintiffs Kevin Korosh Shahin and Azadeh Tadayon fail to plead the existence of an oral contract. However, plaintiffs allege that in the summer of 2017, by way of an oral agreement, defendants agreed to competently provide legal services for plaintiffs regarding the Denis Pariseau, et al. v. Azadeh Tadayon et al. litigation. (FAC BC-1.) Defendants observe that the Court previously deemed a...

Excerpt: ...nts Ramon Valdez, Martha Valdez, and LRS Realty & Management, Inc. (collectively, “Valdez Defendants”) and defendants Greg Rodriguez and GJR Real Estate, Inc. (collectively, “Rodriguez Defendants”) separately move for summary judgment. The Valdez Defendants' requests to take judicial notice of the original Complaint, First Amended Complaint, and Second Amended Complaint are GRANTED, but only for the existence of the documents, not the tru...

Excerpt: ...[Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004]. The proposed settlement shall be submitted to the agency at the same time that it is submitted to the court.” The Court has the following concerns about the Settlement Agreement attached as Exhibit A to the declaration of Nina Montoya filed on March 1, 2022 (“Settlement”). The Court cannot evaluate the entire extent of the “Released Claims” as defined in Section 1 of the Agreement beca...

Excerpt: ...udicial notice of plaintiff's 2017 and 2020 complaints filed with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing is GRANTED. (Evid. Code §§ 452, 453.) I. DEMURRER TO FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT A. Uncertainty Defendants argue that the First Amended Complaint is uncertain because it purportedly lacks underlying facts and dates. A demurrer for uncertainty is sustained only when the Complaint is “so ambiguous and so unintelligible that they prevent a...

Excerpt: ...nc. (“FACLA”) allege that Article V, Section 3 of the FACLA Bylaws requires a director to never have been convicted of any felony or any crime involving moral turpitude in any jurisdiction. (Compl. ¶ 23.) Citing Corporations Code §§ 5151(c) and 5221(b), defendant contends that plaintiffs failed to allege that a majority of all qualified directors declared defendant's position of president vacant. Plaintiffs allege only that plaintiff Resur...

Excerpt: ...nce Service, Inc. (“AMRAS”) and American Medical Response of Southern California (“AMRSC”) each seek initial responses from plaintiff Pedro Ceren to their respective first sets of (1) Form Interrogatories-General; (2) Form Interrogatories-Employment; (3) Special Interrogatories; (4) Requests for Production of Documents; and (5) Requests for Admission. As a preliminary matter, plaintiff contends that the motion is procedurally improper bec...

Excerpt: ...rcumstances and conditions listed in the Complaint, including lack of certificate of occupancy, a smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, and safe egress and ingress to the unit via windows and doors, are listed as conditions indicative of a substandard building in Health and Safety Code § 17920.3. (Compl. ¶¶ 9, 19, 20.) Defendant is correct that lack of a certificate of occupancy, smoke detector, or carbon monoxide detector are not listed a...

Excerpt: ...tion on the ground that these causes of action are uncertain. A demurrer for uncertainty is sustained only when the Complaint is “so ambiguous and so unintelligible that they prevent a party from reasonably responding to the allegations . . . .” (Khoury v. Maly's of Cal., Inc. (1993) 14 Cal.App.4th 612, 616.) The names of the fifth through fifteenth causes of action upon which defendants base their demurrer are listed on the caption page of t...

Excerpt: ...solved before a judicial referee based on its agreement in Section 8.21 of the Merchant Marketing and Processing Agreement (“Agreement”). All of plaintiff's claims are governed by the judicial reference provision in the Agreement because its claims arise out its entry into the Agreement with defendant. Plaintiff's claim in the opposition that it was fraudulently induced to enter into the Agreement is belied by plaintiff's admission in the Com...

Excerpt: ...eclaration were self-authenticating. With respect to Jesse Clark, Christopher Chase, and Christina Mejia, plaintiffs maintain that these declarants did not aver to their job duties. However, plaintiffs do not cite any authority indicating that declarants are required to list their job duties to lay a proper foundation. To the extent that averments concerning whether Chase and Mejia perceived plaintiffs as disabled may be contradicted by depositio...

Excerpt: ...l Further Responses to Special Interrogatories, Set One is GRANTED. In both motions, plaintiff Salvador Barrios seek discovery from defendant City of Commerce relevant to the notice that the City of Commerce had regarding the purported dangerous condition at the intersection of South La Verne Avenue and Telegraph Road. (See Gov. Code § 835(b) [public entity liable for injury caused by a dangerous condition when the “public entity had actual or...

Excerpt: ...is motion, defendants The Ozurovich Group, Inc.; L+O Business Management, Inc.; Andrew Ozurovich; and Marinka Sjoberg (collectively, “Ozurovich defendants”) objected to the declaration of plaintiff Paul Rodriguez because it was not executed under penalty of perjury in, or under the laws of, the State of California, as required by CCP § 2015.5 On February 17, 2022, the Court continued the hearing on this motion to allow plaintiff to file a de...

Excerpt: ...f Steven Poore's claims against it. The Court finds that plaintiff agreed to arbitration of the causes of action asserted in this action by signing the “Voluntary Mutual Agreement to Arbitrate Claims” (“Arbitration Agreement”) on July 27, 2001. (Hickey Decl. ¶ 4 & Ex. A.) Plaintiff maintains the Arbitration Agreement is no longer binding because defendant terminated the May 31, 2001, Employment Agreement by demoting plaintiff in 2004. (H...

Excerpt: ...Intentional Misrepresentation and Concealment) In the first cause of action, plaintiff Sly Spectrum LLC (“Sly”) alleges that Joshua Golsen (“Joshua”) and Barry Golsen (“Barry”) failed to disclose that Barry and Jack Golsen (“Jack”), Joshua's grandfather, were named as defendants in a federal securities fraud class action lawsuit and that Barry and Jack were removed from the Board of Directors from their business. (FAC ¶¶ 48-50, ...

Excerpt: ... specific admissions and denials in response to each allegation in the Complaint. Defendants seek leave to amend the Answer in response to plaintiff D.M.'s assertion that, because the Complaint is verified, the Answer must be verified and contain specific denials. (CCP § 431.30(b), (d) [requiring specific denial for verified complaints]; CCP § 446(a).) The parties dispute whether the Complaint was sufficiently verified. According to defendants,...

Excerpt: ...ond Cause of Action: Bad Faith – Breach of the Duty of Good Faith & Fair Dealing “[T]o establish the insurer's ‘bad faith' liability, the insured must show that the insurer has (1) withheld benefits due under the policy, and (2) that such withholding was ‘unreasonable' or ‘without proper cause.' [Citation.]” (Major v. Western Home Ins. Co. (2009) 169 Cal.App.4th 1197, 1209.) With respect to the first element, cross-complainant Immanue...

Excerpt: ...Licker defendants”) object to the declaration of plaintiff Paul Rodriguez because it was not executed under penalty of perjury, as required by CCP § 2015.5. (Kulshrestha v. First Union Commercial Corp. (2004) 33 Cal.4th 601, 612 [“Based on the plain meaning of the statute, and consistent with the legislative history discussed below, the courts have made clear that a declaration is defective under [CCP] section 2015.5 absent an express facial...